Custodial sentences key to protecting the public

NEW figures show the dire consequences of courts dispensing lenient sentences.

PUBLISHED: 00:01, Fri, Apr 25, 2014

Almost half of 160,000 convicted criminals went on to commit another crime within a year[GETTY]

More than 160,000 criminals convicted of an offence but not sent to jail during 2012 had previously committed at least 11 offences.

Of those 160,000 almost half went on to commit another crime within a year.

That is a vast number of people reoffending.

For them criminality is a way of life.

If we tackle the under-use of prisons for prolific criminals there will be a dramatic fall in the crime rate

Peter Cuthbertson

When they are convicted for one of their crimes they are inevitably given only a minor slap on the wrist, a mild annoyance rather than the sort of serious deterrent that our judges should be handing down to send out the message that crime does not pay.

That means making sure our prisons have enough capacity and then allowing judges to consistently hand down tough custodial sentences.

Peter Cuthbertson, of the Centre for Crime Prevention, is absolutely right when he says: “Soft justice doesn’t cut reoffending and it fails to protect the public.

"If we tackle the under-use of prisons for prolific criminals there will be a dramatic fall in the crime rate.”

BBC must cover EU fairly

IN 2012 the BBC was forced to commission a review of the impartiality of its EU coverage.

The review vindicated the BBC but think tank Civitas has today blasted the original findings.

They have accused the BBC of being biased in favour of the EU, describing relations between the original review’s authors and the two organisations as “incestuous” and raising serious questions about the corporation’s “impartiality and competence”.

Civitas also queried the academic basis of the original review, finding that one of its authors was guilty of allowing “subjective” views held by himself and BBC employees to influence findings.

The BBC is obliged to be impartial on political matters.

Membership of the EU is a hotly contested issue with Ukip surging in opinion polls and elections for the European Parliament looming.

The BBC must do more to ensure that the case for leaving the EU receives a fair hearing.